Genocide has struck many victims over the past 65 years: European Jews during World War II, Cambodians in the late 1970s and Rwandans in 1994.
There may be a new addition: The black African tribes of Darfur Province in western Sudan have faced murder, displacement, pillage, razing of villages and other crimes by Arab militias known as janjaweed.
The dictionary defines genocide as "the systematic killing of a racial or cultural group." The US government is reviewing whether Darfur qualifies for the designation.
"The janjaweed are the government's militia, and Khartoum has armed and empowered it to conduct `ethnic cleansing' in Darfur," Human Rights Watch said.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group says Darfur can "easily become as deadly" as the Rwanda genocide of 1994. Then, soldiers, militiamen and civilians of the Hutu majority killed more than 500,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in 100 days.
All along, Sudan has denied allegations of complicity with the Arab militias and has blamed rebels for rights violations.
In February last year, the Zaghawa, Fur and Masalit black tribes rebelled against what they regarded as unjust treatment by the Sudanese government in their historic struggle over land and resources with their Arab countrymen.
Countless thousands of tribesmen have died in a brutal counterinsurgency. The conflict has uprooted more than 1 million people, and the US government believes this many could die unless a peace settlement is reached and relief supply deliveries are greatly accelerated. Sudanese cooperation has been limited but is improving.
The Muslim-versus-Muslim conflict is separate from the 21-year war between ethnic Arab Muslim militants in northern Sudan and the black African non-Muslim south. That three-decade-long struggle may be ending thanks to peace accords signed last month.
A US interagency review is aimed at judging whether the Darfur tragedy qualifies as genocide under a 1946 international convention that outlaws the practice.
"I believe what is occurring in Sudan approaches the level of genocide," said Jim Kolbe, a US Republican lawmaker. He and several colleagues are pushing for US$95 million in emergency assistance for Darfur's victims.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, says Washington could increase the pressure on the Sudanese government by issuing a "stern warning" that, in the US view, it is "close to if not bordering on genocide."
This would greatly impact on international public opinion, Hier said, founder and dean of the center.
Mark Schneider, a vice president of the International Crisis Group, says Hier may have a point. He also said a genocide designation by the US could thrust the UN Security Council into prolonged debate, deflecting attention from Darfur's massive humanitarian needs.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS